April 11, 2008

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Huffpo's Mayhill Fowler has more from Obama's remarks at a San Francisco fundraiser Sunday, and they include an attempt to explain the resentment in small-town Pennsylvania that won't be appreciated by some of the people whose votes Obama's seeking:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

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Wow.. OK.. so, from what I gather:
"Religion is the opiate of the masses."
Hmm.. quoting Karl Marx on the campaign trail? I'd say that's a singularly bad move.
You can't REALLY be serious?! Is the press SO ill-educated that they can't RUN with this one? Didn't the HRC people STUDY? PEOPLE... Obama is quoting the founder of communism?!
HRC campaign.. please take it from here.
Obama, his wife, et. al? Goodbye.

Obama blew one of the cardinal rules of Democratic politics yesterday as he tried to defend his San Francisco remarks. His message turned to one of anger. That can work for conservatives who are dismayed by change and mistrustful of basic human nature. But Democrats win by being positive, hopeful and believing in the basic strengths of human nature. Obama came across as angry, arrogant and superior.

I am from PA and I have to say that 1st of all its very ignorant of him to speak of American people in a way that degrades them. Do you know how many small towns make up a state, country and nation? I mean where I am from, we dont hold onto guns and have WE HAVE real jobs. I dont think you can say 300k houses going like hot cakes around me is anything close to what he is portraying. I think small towns are beautiful but left cold by the job losses sent overseas. Pennsylvania is a major hub of manufacturing because of its close proximity to major ports. Pennsylvania is beautiful and offers a collage of cultures and people. Its rich in American history. Obama needs to get a clue on speaking appropriately about PA if he wants to have a chance at winning here

Actually, all of America deserves to be bitter. That *was* the point of Obama's comment, despite some peoples' attempts to parse it as some kind of xenophobia (did you miss the part where he supports the 2nd amendment?) I think McCain and Clinton, as two children of relative privilege, attacking him as elitist is one of their worse mistakes.

WHO DOES OBAMA THINKS HE IS?? DOES HE KNOW HE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES with everything at stake including PA???? This isnt Oprah book of the month club!!! I am living in PA right now and I dont own a gun and nobody I know does!!! I think his comment is so out of touch with what PA represents! I mean is he serious? We have real jobs and if he wants to talk about religion we have all of them from Hindu to Hebrew. PA is a collage of different cultures and religions. We are rich in not only culture but history. 300-500k houses are going like hot cakes around me so I dont know what he is talking about. We are a hub for manufacturing because of our close proximity to ports. We have some of the best Hospitals and Universities in the country. Its a great place to live! He better learn how to speak because he will lose BIG in PA !!!

I am so uterly amazed to discover how many Americans, especially those who float in their wealth and comfort zone, know so little about how the poor and the desperate feel. Won't one be bitter if one is facing job loss or homelessness? No, the American poor can't be resilient because they know that the Baron Robbers are too powerful and in control of America and the american people. And indeed, people pray more when they are desperate. And with rising crimes in PA, I'm sure every gunowner would be clinging to his/her gun, ready to ward off criminals. At least Senator Obama is capable of seeing reality while critics swim in their own fantasy that everything is fine and wonderful for those losing jobs, losing homes, and trying to make ends meet. Why do you think Americans are registering to vote in such giagantic numbers? Yes, they re bitter against being held hostage by the manipulating Baron Robbers. And that's why they want a candidate who can unite them to bring back satisfaction for all, not just the selected elites. Don't forget that there were nations, like China, Russia, etc. that seemed to bask in wealth, but their Baron Robbers were in denial of the bitterness of its poor. Those poor and bitter had no alternatives but to revolt. Deny that the poor are bitter, and we'd be heading into the same darkness, like those nations that became communists. Senator Obama is reaching out to these less fortunate American folks. He understands reality while his critics are floating in their fantasy world.

"Well, that's not my experience," Clinton told a crowd of several hundred at Drexel University. "As I travel around Pennsylvania, I meet people who are resilient, who are optimistic, who are positive. . . . They're working hard every day for a better future for themselves and their children. Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them. They need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them."

Obama's remarkably frank condescension to blue-collar voters -- a condescension shared by many commenters on this thread, and (hilariously) seen by them all as a given -- is especially rich, given the source. Obama is the one "clinging" to religion (Rev. Wright's black liberation theology), anti-trade (his refusal to support the CFTA), and antipathy to the "other" ("typical white person", to take one of many instances).
When those in flyover country (you know, the ones who elect presidents) exercise their constitutional rights, they're deluded by fear; yet when Obama and his wife espouse their cynical, sheltered beliefs, they're being wise. Glad to know where they think they stand vis-a-vis the poor huddled masses. This is John Kerry all over again.
To all of you who don't see the problem here, I suspect you'll get four more years in which to educate yourselves.

"Notice he went to San Francisco to make those comments and not have the balls to say them in PA. What a racist Anti American he is." ________________________________________________________________________
You clearly missed his speech on race in Philadelphia, when he said exactly this. You're either not being honest, or you haven't been paying attention. I'll leave a little room for the chance that you , like Ben Smith, simply don't recognize Obama's recurring theme on the subject of serious cultural animosity and division in America. But I have a hard time giving Ben the pass, because, frankly, it's his job to pay close attention. ________________________________________________________________________
Racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, along with the anger, frustration and fear among many working-class Americans, regardless of ethnicity, as Obama said, in what is becoming known as the most important speech on this subject in living memory... He said, black, white, and many other working class Americans are indeed angry and feeling hateful toward each other. We do, because so many of us feel disadvantaged by people perceived to be special, people given an unfair and unwarranted advantage in both a social and corporate context. ________________________________________________________________________
We feel disadvantaged in a corporate culture that finds most of us to be disposable, just as likely without regard for race. But we argue with each other, instead, while our jobs are sent overseas just as quickly as corporations can get those countries outfitted with technology and the foreign workforce trained. And for no other reason but shareholder profit do they sell out the American dream for their own sky-high lifestyle. ________________________________________________________________________
He clearly means that economic insecurity leads to cultural infighting as people from middle and working class America are being left behind by American industrialists who look to the global economy to buy labor from the cheapest source rather than an American source. ________________________________________________________________________ Your charge of anti-Americanism is exactly the kind of antagonism on which the muckety-mucks hope you waste your energy, instead of demanding pro-American practice of them.

Honestly we all know what he meant, however it will be sliced and diced. I mean because anything you do or say is all magnified. Its is all "gotcha". I support Hillary but how many people have "gotcha" to Hillary. I mean we cant have a discussion without everyone playing "gotcha". I will vote for Nader in the fall, because he doesn't play "gotcha". I give up on the system and the people. We all deserve this mess because instead of looking at all the issues we play games. I only supported Hillary cause what MSM is doing to her and her experience, also the fact that Bill can show her how to handle the Presidency. This will go away in 24 hours and have no effect. However if Hillary said this MSM will devour her. Look how the MSM spinned J.Wright for Obama and no mention of Rezko. Forget it another Dem voting for Nader.

Are people so stupid or what? I'm not that smart but can't you tell that Obama was talking about George W. Bush, the greatest failed President in the history, who won the election on such topics as guns and religions. He was terrible as CEO of private companies even if his dad helped him to get there. And now you want Jonny McBush to put plans to work in this dire economy even though he admitted he has no idea how economy works? Or you want HillyBilly to swindle more money while agreeing on more NAFTA,CAFTA,EFTA,etc and shipping your jobs out the door? Sometimes, reality bites and sucks but the healing starts when you admit that you have problems.

Barry, I think this time you've really stepped in deep doo-doo. Man, you just can't get elected by insulting the people you want to vote for you! They gave you a pass on the words spoken by your bud, the Rev., but this is over the top. You just gave Hillary enough wind to sail herself all the way to the convention.

I'll bet the people of Barry's district in Chicago who were victims of Rezko's "renovations" are the real "bitter" ones..... Funny how Barry knows all about the folks in PA but didn't know about his own constituents in Chicago....

Hillary clinton has the audacity to accuse Obama of "looking down" on voters. Her lie about Bosnia is proof positive of her disdain for both the truth and her lack of respect for voters. And McCain's claim that Obama is Out of touch is simply laughable. The plain truth is many voters are bitter--with justification--as Obama said.

FYI, Barak - Most law-abiding citizens do resent the fact that millions of foreigners have sneaked ILLEGALLY in to the U.S. and taken jobs away from American citizens - while their own federal government, which they pay taxes to, has been asleep at the switch, leaving our borders unprotected. And yet you want to chalk it up to nativistic yahoo-ism! Barak, there's no other country on this planet that has allowed itself to be flooded with illegals like the U.S. has. And the federal government continues to do very little to stop it. The weird thing is that you oppose the very real efforts of those who're trying to close the border to illegals. You and your policies are a complete disaster!!

This is why BO is a loser, he is bad with math. Bo just insulted 66% of the voters. BO has spent too much time with Rev Wright and his racist ideas, BO is unfit and not qualified to be president. Poor Bo some times the truth about who he really really is comes out. The media tried to make him into a Savior but he is just a cancer.

"they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren?t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment"
-------------------------------What this elitist racist is talking about here, folks, is "rednecks" or "crackers." (White) people in small towns in PA cling to their guns, religion and prejudice!! It is absolutely incredible, a totally unmasked view of his deep seated, condescending racism.

I guess we should be fortunate that we have only a handfull of haters and racist left in this country...all 1800 of them have posted here on this site. Looks like Rev Wright has smoked you out of your holes in the Bush chuckle chuckle. You don't deserve a good man like Obama because you will always feel safer behind a Bush, taking a crap on somebody else. I guess you all forgot your mammys and pappis came here from prisons in England AS PO white trash when you took this land with yo guns and rot gut fire water from the home of the braves.

Hey Ben, you wanna support someone who voted for the War - Then go there and fight it yourself. You wouldn't last a month in the sandbox. People like you make it hard to be a liberal. You are an oxygen thief.

There is nothing wrong with what he said. It's true. I applaud him for what he said. People are bitter.
Clinton and McCain's spin is stupid. This will have no effect in PA.
And the anti-Obama people really don't have an argument outside of they hate Obama.
Get over it, he didn't say anything wrong or racial.

Anyone who's not bitter at what's happened in, with and to this country hasn't been awake for the past eight years. Anyone who thinks Obama, the son of a single mother, is the elitist in a campaign against two multimillionaires, including the scion of U.S. admiralty, is being fooled.
Call me Bitter Hussein.

I'm ashamed you are attacking ben for exactly what obama said.
People don't "cling" to religion and guns because of the economy. Guns is a tradition in small towns and part of the culture of america, like it or not.
2nd. Religion is important in all our lives and to say that money dimsisses religion is so shallow and sick.
He is really starting to fit this image of the liberal elitist michael dukakis who goes in front of another elitist crowd in sanfrancisco and bashes white america and small town america.
Good luck Obama, you won't be elected.

Obama said: 'and it is not surprising that they cling to guns and religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant or anti-trade as a way to explain their frustration.'
If you believe in God, it's because you're bitter from job loss. If you believe that free trade is a bad idea and would prefer fair trade, it's because you're bitter (overlook Obama's own statements criticizing NAFTA etc. he obviously didn't mean them or perhaps he's just bitter. Oh and while you're at it ignore that the idea of fair trade is a democratic belief and that protecting blue collar jobs is a core democratic value). If you lose your job and you're in small town PA then you'll cling to racism for comfort.
If you believe in the 2nd Amendment or hunt, it's not because you grew up in a culture that hunts or because you've arrived at an intellectual conclusion regarding our constitution -- it's because you're bitter from job loss.
And because you are o-so bitter from job loss and cling to all these silly ideals like religion and fair trade and the 2nd amendment, I Barack Obama will give you a job and your inferior, emotional, animalistic beliefs will be replaced with my superior beliefs.
Is there anyone, in the democratic party, this man doesn't look down upon?

Barry's comments kinda remind me of John Lennon's song "Imagine" (as in, "imagine no religion ..."). This kind of stuff sells in ivory tower academia and in ultra-liberal venues - but on Main Street it's like poison. Sorry Barry.

Obama is so "right on"! People from Main Street, Smalltown, America only believe in Jesus and own guns because their government has let them down! Thank you for such insight and wisdom Mr. Obama! (For the dunderheads that didn't get it the first time it was posted - this is called sarcasm.)

What's wrong with that comment? It's not only true, but he seems to justify them. What are we supposed to believe, that they are not bitter? I think everyone is a bit bitter afterthis administration has totally neglected the blue collar worker. It's a shame this will probably hurt him because the media has nothing else to go on for the weekend updates. Ridiculous. Obama should be our next president.

It's like his Grandmother. These small-towners are "typical" white people. This is how he thinks, folks. HE gets a pass, the rest do not. His pastor gets a pass. His wife gets a pass. Reverse racism is going to be elevated to a level that will challenge even the guiltiest-feeling liberals. But they'll vote for him anyway. I always said there's no bigger racist than a Liberal Democrat. Obama will ably prove the point in the coming months.

"There's no one so blind as he who will not see." For those totally lacking in comprehension (and there appear to be more than a few here) - Barry, your great leader - is insulting the intelligence and the good-heartedness of those who believe in Jesus, the Constitutional right to bear arms, and who believe it's the federal government's job to protect their livelihood against a foreign invasion of ILLEGAL aliens. This is liberal clap-trap and the policies that will be derived from such a delusional mind-set will prove to be a disaster beyond measure should Americans be so foolish as to place Barry in the White House.

My goodness...I don't live in PA ...my economic situation is blessedly good...I don't like latte, but am an avid Starbucks drinker...
That being said, Obama hit the nail on the head..the vein of anger, bitterness, many in our nation have and not just blue collar workers in PA...
I have been bitter as H*ll...furious at the policies of our government, furious at the deaf ears of our leaders and for once, a politician stands out in the crowd and sees the elephant in the living room...The hopelessness that the people in this nation have been feeling for years, the voiceless-ness of it all, because nobody is listening...
This is why 80% in this country think the country is on the wrong track...Well I can tell you this..this citizen is mad as h*ll and I can bet you my life, that it Obama keeps drilling this home and hits the vein of pure anger and bitterness of the American people, he will take the White House...People are more than just fed up they are pi**ed...

This just confirms that Ubama believes what Rendell said. That the typical small town white folks of Pennsylvania are a bunch of closeted gun toting racists, as opposed to the fine upstanding elitist cross dressing, gender confused, sanctuary city audience he was speaking to in San Francisco.
Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, Ubama...no difference..what more will we learn in the coming weeks?

Another chance to demonize the uppity Black man. He did not say anthing that was wrong. Instead of blaming the last four(4) administrations for jobs leaving this country let's blame the only person that has the courage to stand up and tell the truth. Let's comdemn him for saying the truth but not the person that claims they have great credbility but they "misspeak" at every other turn, let's not go after the warmonger that wants to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran al the while we are stretched to the limit in Iraq, let's not go after the president that claims he never heard anyone say the price of gas could reach 4.00 a gallon. No let'sgo after the mean old Black man that has the courage to say when people get scared they turn to guns, GOD , and rascism.

Laughable!!!!!! Another Friday evening Obama "Job." It seems that this "recording" was in someones hands since last Sunday and all of a sudden is blasted by the media on Friday evening? RIGHT!!!!!! He told the truth. There was nothing in what he said indicating that he looks down on people. It speaks volumes once again to see camp "Hillarious" teaming up with "McSameAsBush." Maybe they should run on a ticket together.
The Obama family is not poor by any stretch, but, let's compare the banks accounts of the 3 candidates and see how that works for ya. For Clinton and McCain to run around claiming that he is of The Elite and looks down on people is comical.
We have Hillary telling the small business owners and others, that staged her campaign events, to "eat cake" while they wait for their checks from the $109,000,000.00 couple. Then you have "McSameAsBush" making speeches on the housing crisis and he tells people that they are on their own.
Just another of the long line of Friday evening Obama "jobs" that are sure to continue in an effort to find something/anything to "take the boy down." Not this time!!

If you want to say I am ****ED off because company's like Bear Sterns is bailed out because of shoddy financial practices, HELL YES. If you want to say I am ****ED off because of YEARS of affirmative action, HELL YES. If you want to say I am a small town Pennsylvania loving WHITE man, love to hunt, fish, and have a decent God fearing life... GO TO HELL BARAK OBAMA. Take your ISLAMIC, White HATING, Black Power self back to Chicago and ROT in HELL. You will NEVER be my President, NEVER!!

To those who want to claim, "He's telling the truth". No, Barry's painting a stereotypical characature of people who happen to be the backbone of America. He's insulting their intelligence, their values, and their wisdom. Barry's telling us exactly what he thinks about Main Street America - and his way of thinking is way out there in left field. Thanks Barry for letting us know - before it's too late!

How come no-one calls Clinton campaign "out of touch" in her new campaign ad???
Her SUMMER HOME (ie, 2-story "cottage"), had no HEAT? In JUNE and JULY? How on earth did they survive?
She had no indoor SHOWER? What? You mean she had to take a BATH? Did people really live like this in 1950s America?
Campaign spin: "she's just regular folks from Pennsylvania." How come the media lets this one slide?

if you read the whole article of what he said, these are the comments which i, a Laid-Off Worker, found the most offensive...when he said this about Penn. workers who lose their jobs...and in bold black lettering above...
"...And it?s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren?t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." - Sen. Barack Obama
what an arrogant, snob...so, he thinks the Penn. working-class gets bitter...and when things get tough with jobs being lost, etc., workers in Penn. turn to guns, (read...violence and crime), to religion, to antipathy towards people not like them, (read...racism), or anti-immigrant sentiment, (read...more racism), anti-trade sentiments, (read...excuses), to explain their frustrations.
so, properly translated from Obama-Speak, when things get tough in Penn. with workers losing their jobs, they get bitter and over-emotional, turn to violence and crime, to religion, to racism, and to excuses to explain their frustrations.
i never, and never have, fit any of his descriptions...and the stereotyping is outrageous and infuriating!...obviously, this guy`s COMPLETELY LOST when it comes to Penn.`s middle-class workers!
indeed, it sounds like Obama doesn`t know Penn. workers very well at all...and what it`s like to actually lose a job...the remarks speak for themselves...that`s what he really thinks of unemployed Penn. workers and how they behave, etc...and Penn. workers in general...nice to know that sometimes, the real BO slips thru showing us all what he`s really like...and what he really is!

I'm starting to understand what the bloggers say about BENDOVER he is constantly reaching for the bottom of the barrel. What Barack said was the truth! Everyone reading this blog knows that it?s the truth. When ever things start to go wrong in America, we as Americans start to tighten our butts in one way or another. PLEASE can we stick to the issues?? PLEASE?? And as for you BENDOVER, stick to the facts and let your readers determine the meaning!

Instead of focusing on the political risk of making this statement, we should concentrate on asking if it's true, and it probably is. The fact that, again in Pennsylanvia, Obama is willing to risk saying substantive, even sophisticated things is all the more reason he should be elected president this year.

I grew up in PA and now live in VA in a "small-town" and folks here feel the same way as the following post:
Yes, we like our guns and religion in many of the small towns in PA (and elsewhere). But then we have always liked our guns and religion independent of good times or bad. Many of us are hunter's and enjoy the sport and many of us consider our religion to be extremely important to our spiritual well being; a feeling Obama claims to have as well. As far as antipathy towards others is concerned however that's just a smear job from Obama. Most of the areas around here were populated by immigrant labor. People know it and take pride in it. It's not immigration that gets people upset. It's people who are here illegally and benefit from out labor without contributing to the system that provides the benefits. To continue to say immigrant, immigrant, immigrant and leave off the ILLEGAL portion of the label is to be purposely misleading. So to all those out there with the Obama is so honest statements - please get off your high horse - he's a politician like all the rest - he's not a saint.

I am baffled at the number of people who are experiencing the same effects of a country with an unlawful, unpopular war, a "bottom-based" economy, a deteriorating healthcare system, and an increasing unfavorable international presence have a blatant disregard for truth.
Not only am I bitter, but I am mad as hell about losing my good paying job and having to settle for a lower paying one. I'm mad as hell for having my home forclosed on as a result. I'm mad as hell for disrupting my wife and kids' life as a result of that. I'm mad as hell that my pension and stock took such a big hit while others made profits. I'm mad as hell that big corporations are getting bailed out and average Americans are getting bailed under.
So "bitter" doesn't begin to describe it. As a Baptist minister, I'm also mad as hell for a fellow preacher to have his entire reputation and career defined by 30-second sound bites with a blatant disregard for the truth! I've asked constantly, WWJD? The only answer I could possibly accept would be, He'd search the truth to the whole matter. As seekers of truth and justice, which is the American way, we'll find that like them or not, the preacher's "controversial" remarks were not entirely his own, but that of a former US ambassador, Edward Peck. AND, he heard Peck on FOX News.
Bitter? Yeah. Obama's commments were off. Most Christian Americans, (Pennsylvanians or not) are beyond bitter. We're angry and upset. We look to our politician's for immediate help and the give tax breaks to homebuilders, NOT homeowners. So we cling to our HOPE and FAITH and realize that something has got to CHANGE. We've tried it THIS way for nearly 28 years, it's time for something completely different.

Please! After all the gaffs by John McCain(he does not know the people of Iraq, he knows nothing about finance, he flip-flops on a daily bases) so do not try to frame Barack because he tells you people are unhappy with the George Bushes of this world and the Lying "Clintons"!
Coachslife

You guys are kidding right? To quote a great movie line from Jack Nicholson - YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH. Obama spoke the truth. Whether you are republican or democrat - Americans are angry and they are bitter. The past eight years have become a living hell for many of us starting with the War, The Economy, Healthcare, change in Credit Card Laws, Gas Prices. Come on - he was speaking truth - and some people on these blogs cannot HANDLE THE TRUTH. Have you or anyone you know lost someone in Bush's war; do you know anyone who is struggling to keep their home; do you know anyone who doesn't have healthcare. Obama's statement is not news - it's truth. Get a grip. Just from reading these blogs I see bitterness and anger.

Obama supporters are mad, and bitter, and depressed, and very negative. What ever happened to picking yourself up by the boot-straps and working your way to a better life by being positive if that is what you wnat? I think this country and citizens are wonderful! The government should always be striving to improve things but, on balance we benefit from the greatest country on earth.

TWISTING WORDS! Please read the entire statement - not just a word or two. He said that because Americans don't believe that anything will happen on all issues in Washington, that we tend to vote on other issues like gun laws, gay marriage, etc." He did say that anyone cling to guns. My goodness! Are we so lazy that we can't take time to read an entire response but instead go on what the pundits say. One thing I have to say about Senator Obama (unlike the other two candidates) is that he's not lobbying for votes or willing to say anything or do anything to win this election. Some people here are "out of touch" or at least not willing to listen to all the facts but instead jump in with anger and bitterness in response to everything. We are suppose to be listening, evaluating, thinking and supporting our candidate.

Obama's inspiration seems to come more from Muhammad Ali (the Boxer) and Malcolm X: Ali - for his "Rope a dope" in the ring, and Malcolm - for his "bamboozle" 'em and "hoodwink" 'em. So much for the great "uniter"!!!

Here's what the man said - use some adult brain muscle and read it:
And so people end up- they don?t vote on economic issues because they don?t expect anybody?s going to help them. So people end up, you know, voting on issues like guns, and are they going to have the right to bear arms. They vote on issues like gay marriage. And they take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and things they can count on. But they don?t believe they can count on Washington. So I made this statement-- so, here?s what rich. Senator Clinton says ?No, I don?t think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack?s being condescending.? John McCain says, ?Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he?s obviously out of touch with people.?
?Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain?it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he?s saying I?m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I?m out of touch? No, I?m in touch. I know exactly what?s going on. I know what?s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what?s going on in Indiana. I know what?s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They?re angry and they?re frustrated and they?re bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that?s why I?m running for President of the United States of America.?

22% of people said that "moral values" influenced them in the presidential election. That's what Obama was saying. They either didn't see a difference between the candidates or didn't think they could get anything important done so they made decision based on what would be secondary issues in this election.
Everybody seems to agree that the Economy is the most important issue. The question is are people going to vote on the most important issue or on other issues.

"HE'S JUST SAYING PEOPLE SCAPEGOAT...."
Yah. Uh huh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc9PepjyDow&eurl=http://michellemalkin.com/
I'm a D.C. city kid, and Obama's contempt hits a new high on my reek-o-meter.

I've doubted claims about your lack of balance when covering the Democrats in this primary. Truly, I usually cocked an eyebrow and thought it was just passionate Obama supporters reading to much into it. But today, I've come to the conclusion that you have lost perspective, and your coverage is suffering for it. People are angry, and we aren't afraid to hear it, and we want someone to address it. I'm disappointed that you are now representing opinions that belong in the Republican coverage of this primary. You are bringing down the reputation of Politico with your coverage, and as someone who was happy to discover Politico, you should be concerned about that. When I hear "Politico' now, the first thing that comes to mind will be "Ben Smith = Distorting anything he can to support Hillary, at the expense of Democrats". Really unfortunate.

AMB: "Many of you are Drudge readers, so are probably too illiterate to comprehend this, but if you actually *do* have the ability to read, perhaps you should read Obama's complete comments..." Now see, this is why we love the Obamatrons. They and their candidate compliment each other beautifully and in the most illustrative ways. A guy who attracts and embraces the kind of smug, puerile, syncophatic, snotty, know-it-all, would-be elitist pseudo-intellectuals he does and THEN tells them THEY are the change we've been waiting for has got nothin' to say to me. Trust me, kiddies, he stepped in it this time.

We begin to see a pattern here of elitism on the part of Obama. We heard Michele Obama say she had never been proud of her country until her husband ran for office. Then there was Samantha Power's statement of the voters in Ohio, calling them "obsessed and ignorant." Then there was Axelrod's explanation of why Obama does better in caucuses and poorly in primaries by saying, "the voters in the primaries are less educated and unmotivated." And now Obama paints the entire state of Pennyslyvania with the same brush, basically, calling them white crackers who are too stupid to help themselves. This statement exposes Obama as a Kennedy liberal, which will be a disaster come the Fall election. I also like the fact that the fundraiser was attended by Chinese businessmen and lobbyists in San Francisco.

Not true SandyLa. I just think that if you really listen to what he said and then consider what's really going on in our country - he spoke the truth. No matter who you support - people are angry and bitter. Our economy is shot; over 4,000 Americans have lost their lives in the war; gas prices are sky high; people are losing their homes. Now let's see - do you think that we have lost hope over the last eight years in Washington. You don't have to support Obama but at least support the TRUTH. There are some angry bitter people out there and it's because of the dcsisions made in Washington that we don't have any control of. Spin it however you like but he did speak the truth.

Heh heh, Obama just said rural whites are a bunch of dumb, gun loving, racist Christian fundamentalists. Say goodbye to your Presidential bid Barack and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

the sheer irony of Clinton and McCain calling Obama "elitist" is sweet. SWWEEEEEET. Nothing like the hundred-million dollar, lobbyist-funded candidates denigrating the working guy for his elitist attitude.

IF Mr. Obama actually made these comments or they were not taken out of context, I confess surprise he would make prejudicial assumptions about an area he knows nothing to very little about.
I have lived in rural Pennsylvania most of my life and calling us bitter and clinging to weapons, religion and "antipathy toward people who aren't like them" is nonsense.
Agreed, we don't change much. There's very little reason to do so in a rural community where time flows much more predictable and slower, but unlike those in the cities (read Pittsburgh and Philadelphia), we can adapt much more easily when it is required. It's just that we don't change for the sheer desire to do so.

Puleeeze!
Bottom line. Both the Clinton and McCain campaigns have been desperately hoping for an Obama 'gaffe' that they can seize upon in the absence of any substantive answers to his steamrolling campaign. Now, thanks to the media blowing up a perfectly legitimate assessment of small town America, they think they have one. Clinton, in particular has been trying to paint Barack Obama as "Uppity" since her take no prisoners campaign started. Sorry Obama-haters, but you'll have no more luck with this one than you did with Wright, Rezko, 'Hussein' and whatever other non-issues you've dredged up to deflect attention away from your own candidates deficiencies. Lost in the shuffle is the likelihood that Texas is now in the Obama column. Big state, Hillary?

Please help me understand people's thinking on how Senator Obama's comments are being interpreted as being racist. Are we reaching here! I've always thought that pundits (in particular Morning Joe and Pat Buchanan) made the PA voters sound dumb when they have consistently made reference to "typical" blue collar workers or the average white working man in PA. Did anyone else pickup on that? I thought that was offensive. It was to say that hard working people were someone not smart to receive Obama's message. Why do so many people think that PA voters don't have the intelligence to understand the truth. Unbelieveable. I come from a family of "blue collar" workers and my parents are very intelligent and have the smarts to analyze all of the candidates. How is his comments racial? Maybe you interpret things that people say with what's truly in your own heart.

People, Obama is saying that the peeps of PA are anti-immigration, and racist because of the last two administraions, and that HE, Mr. Wonderful knows what they need and will fix their problems overnight if they will elect him. He talks about the 'others' saying anything to get elected - what is HE saying?? ANYTHING TO GET ELECTED. Wake up and smell the BLACK-POWER TRIP!

Obama DID speak the truth. The immigrants ARE stealing American jobs. Globalism IS stealing American jobs and America's wealth.
But what will Obama do about it?
He is in the pockets of globalists just like Clinton and McCain. They will ALL continue to keep the borders open. They will ALL continue to spend American taxpayer money on overseas misadventures. They will ALL do what their big money lobbyists tell them to do. They will ALL sacrifice American life and treasure in the Mideast to protect Israel.
If they weren't on-board with the abovementioned self-destructive policies, they wouldn't be getting the big campaign contributions, favorable press, and be in the position they are in today.
These three candidates will never change the course of America. That's why we average small town Americans SHOULD stick to our guns, faith and group social cohesion. It may be all that is left that will preserve us.
Are we expected to sit back with a stupified smile on our face while an influx of ILLEGAL third world criminal invaders displace us?

Senator Obama was speaking to the 'small towns' in Big Cities as well - which we call neighborhoods.
He spoke from the heart. I'm feeling you Senator!
http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2008/04/john-mccain-obamas-remarks-on-american.html

I AM BITTER!!
I'M BITTER BECAUSE OF THE MORTGAGE CRISIS!
I'M BITTER BECAUSE OF THE GAS CRISIS!
I'M BITTER BECAUSE WE LOST 80K JOBS IN MARCH ALONE!
I'M BITTER BECAUSE GAS WILL BE $4 A GALLON THIS SUMMER
I'M BITTER BECAUSE WE ARE STILL IN A WAR THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER END!
AND I REFUSE TO BE SWAYED BY THE SWIFT BOAT EXPRESS BY JOHN MCSAME AND BILLARY CLINTON!
EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM GOING ON IN OUR COUNTRY, AND BARACK IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS IN WASHINGTON THAT WILL JUST PUT A BANDAGE ON OUR PROBLEMS AND HOPE THAT THEY WILL JUST GO AWAY! HE ADDRESSES THESE ISSUES, AND YOU KNOW WHAT... THE TRUTH HURTS! AND WHAT HE SAID WAS THE TRUTH! AND WE HAVE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO THANK FOR THE WAR AND THE ECONOMY CRISIS... AND THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION TO THANK FOR JOBS LOST IN NAFTA!!!

Not true JennieA. I did really listen to what he said and then considered that he is out of touch with small town folks. What's really going on in our country? We are a great country with wonderful citizens. People are more priviledged than anywhere else on earth. Our economy is doing fine. The war will be judged by history, it is too early to judge it. I am very sympathic to all Americans who have lost their lives in the war. As somebody who works for the Army it is particularly close to home for me. I do wish gas prices would come down. Most people are not loosing their homes, which are the best in the world by the way. I make an effort to stay positive and supportive of my country as we move forward to improve it. I don't like everything that goes on it Washington but, it is not doom and gloom, we are very fortunate individuals.

Frank - thanks for your honesty. Your words confirmed exactly what the Senator was saying. We have lost hope and faith in Washington and are voting for other issues. This is not a racial issue but rather a statement that says that Americans are hurting, some of our troops are suffering from depressions, alcohol and drug addictions, suicides are high and families are losing homes; gas prices are over the top - so yes we are angry and bitter. We've been FORCED to hold on to all of the things that you mentioned.

Obama doesn't understand or like people who are not like him. He is clearly only comfortable with those who went to Ivy League schools and live in cities.
I enjoy the shooting sports and reserve the right to protect myself in my own home. My faith nourishes my soul. I welcome those who come here legally and play by the rules. It is amazing that he would actually say these kinds of things in public. Not too surprising that he thinks them given his elitist background.

Barack Obama states, ?People don't vote on economic issues because they don't expect anybody is going to help them. You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years. ... And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.?
Obama is out of touch, speaks from both sides of is mouth, and looks down on people that see things different than himself. This is how I got there.
First of all the people don?t vote on economic issues because Obama and the others in Washington don?t let the people vote. It will be decided for them by the elitists in Washington like Obama and big business. Obama will stand on the platform swearing to change these one sided Free trade agreements, then tell others (Canada) not to worry, its just the bitter little people complaining. That?s speaking from both sides of your mouth, back to the same old same old in Washington.
Second, the jobs are not just gone for ?25 years now? they are leaving in droves since NAFTA and similar bills were passed. Two large factories in the past month have shut down in my small town of 10,000 in the past month alone. While hundreds of store fronts lie empty.
Third, we cling to our guns and religion because these rights are under constant attack from the politicians in Washington. As he speaks schools in this country ban prayer, the ten commandments, freedom of expression in artwork and freedom on speech regarding religion. But other schools freely preach Muslim, Buddhist, and Evolutionism. The other day a child was kicked out of his art class a school because a cross was in the painting. But a photo of **** in a glass is considered art in this country. As far as guns are concerned, banning guns would be like banning crack, once banned only the criminals will have them. A lot less homes are broken into and a lot less people are robed at knife and gun point because criminals don?t know whose packing. Its Obama?s constitutional right to have armed body guards, just as it?s my right to own a gun.
Fourth, Obama speaks of having a full dialog on the issues like illegal immigration. He says the small town people don?t really understand the issue. He states that we all need to get together and have this issue discussed. It looks to me that Obama thinks he already took care of this discussion for me and this country. No discussion required. This country already allows more legal immigrants in than most other countries world combined. The US is estimated to have 12-20 million illegal immigrants here in the country on top of the large legal number allowed. But big business and farmers say they don?t have enough. They need more cheep labor, more people to keep off the books, more people that don?t require insurance, and tax withholdings. Big business and farmers know that illegal immigrants don?t require medical insurance because politicians have mandated that American hospitals provide medical care to the illegals regardless if they can pay or not (give me some of that). While hospitals are going under, passing the costs to the taxpayer and the citizen in record numbers are going under trying to pay hospital bills. I say the American working people can?t survive uncontrolled outsourcing and in sourcing. We can?t compete in country of uncontrolled flooding of cheep labor.
What do I know Obama? I?m ?just a typical white person.? You can call me Bitter and Small town too.

SandyLa. Out of touch with small town folks huh? It's possible that the small town folks who are bitter and angry because it's the small town folks that are losing are losing their homes and really really struggling with the gas prices. It's the small town folks who have lost jobs to NAFTA and CAFTA. He seems to be in touch. The war will be judged by history huh? Some of the small town folks may differ with you - especially when we haven't clearly defined a margin of victory or put an endgame in place. The families of the 4,000 lost may be judging the war right now - not some time in history. What is the measure of success! I'm not saying that we should PULL out now but it's not something that should be judged in the future. We are a great country and have wonderful citizens; however, our current administration has placed huge burdens on us in areas mentioned earlier. Small town folks are the ones who just may be (as Senator Obama said) angry and bitter due to the frustrations of how difficult it is becoming to live happily in this great country. We are fortunate to live in this country and staying positive is a goal that is sometimes challenged in light of the ongoing struggle for small town folks to live a comfortable life.

Obama thinks us small town folks are not educated enough to vote on economic issues - we only vote out of frustration on things like guns and gay marriage.
This guy amazed me with his elitism months ago, I can't tell you how amazed I am today!

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Frak you OBama.

You go into these big cities...and it?s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to unions or government or antipathy to working for a living or anti-whitey sentiment or anti-America sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Yeah, that works too.

Wonder why no one has blogged on this part of his Statement:
?Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain?it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he?s saying I?m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I?m out of touch? No, I?m in touch. I know exactly what?s going on. I know what?s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what?s going on in Indiana. I know what?s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They?re angry and they?re frustrated and they?re bitter.

Typical comments for a big city black guy with a Harvard education who lives in a 1.3 million dollar home, slick Obomba strikes again!! Anyone who votes for this racist must be blind & deaf or just plain stupid

It is clear by Obama's speech that he does not recognize or respect diversity within the individual! Clearly expects everyone to do, be, and think like him including Pennsylvanians! I am from a small town in Pennsylvania (North East), a card carrying NRA member and I am also a licensed attorney in the state! Highly educated, God-fearing gun toting American! Obama is a prime example of ivory tower status which is only afforded to a single-digit percentage of Americans.
I call on all Pennsylvanians to eliminate this candidate now!
Neal

Obama's remarks show a profound disrespect for rural culture and a surprising ignorance of American history. The 1st and 2nd amendments to the Constitution are not just something that Americans turn to like a drug when they are frustrated or "bitter." The freedom to practice religion is one of the foundations of American culture, and one of the reasons the country was settled by Europeans. Guns represent not just self-defense but self-sufficiency in a rural environment, which our country was overwhelmingly at its founding and well into its history.
Though America today is only about 30% rural, the working class of small town and even urban environments often come from rural roots, when their families moved into town as result of the industrialization of the country. Values of piety, freedom, hard work and self-sufficiency remain core working class values. To imply that the working class are bitter or whining because they decry irresponsible trade agreements or unfair job competition caused by illegal immigration is not only insulting to those core values, but also shows a complete ignorance of them.
Thirty years ago the Republican party adopted a strategy to marry the fiscal and Constitutional conservatism that was traditional to their party with the rural values that were common in rural and working class America. That is why they have won 7 of the 10 competitions for Presidency in the past 30 years. The Democratic party is headed for another failure if they denounce or condescend to those rural values.

Don't look to his voting record to see how much he cares for the people he just insulted.
Obama has a way of ducking hard votes or explaining away his bad votes by trying to blame poorly-written statutes. Case in point: an amendment he voted on as part of a recent bankruptcy bill before the US Senate would have capped credit card interest rates at 30 percent. Inexplicably, Obama voted against it, although it would have been the beginning of setting these predatory lending rates under federal control. Even Senator Hillary Clinton supported it.
Now Obama explains his vote by saying the amendment was poorly written or set the ceiling too high. His explanation isn't credible as Obama offered no lower number as an alternative, and didn't put forward his own amendment clarifying whatever language he found objectionable.
Why wouldn't Obama have voted to create the first federal ceiling on predatory credit card interest rates, particularly as he calls himself a champion of the poor and middle classes? Perhaps he was signaling to the corporate establishment that they need not fear him. For all of his dynamic rhetoric about lifting up the masses, it seems Obama has little intention of doing anything concrete to reverse the cycle of poverty many struggle to overcome.

tO ED GARFIELD AT 0859, YOUR COMMENT IS WAY OFF. HE WAS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE, IT WAS ACTUALLY A SLAM AT GOVERNMENT, BUT PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN THE COMMENT AND RAN WITH IT. WHAT HE SAID WAS TRUE AND THE SAME CAN BE SAID ABOUT THE GHETTO. I GUESS AMERICA ONLY CARES THAT HE SPOKE OF "WHITE"COMMUNITIES. IT IS A SHAME THAT PEOPLE, ARE LETTING THE MEDIA SPIN THIS TOWARDS HATE!

I think this reveals Obama's thinks "normal" people trust government and reject religion and guns. He places being a religious gun owner in the same category as being an ignorant racist. Normal people aren't like this, only people who are bad or bitter. Very condescending.

do we REALLY have time for obama and all his PERSONAL baggage?
nothing gets dont; he is tirelessly engulfed in explaining himself, and we have a war going on - - we have troops returning with huge healthcare issues - - we have a housieng crisis and our planes are docking - - our fuel and food is too high, and everytime you turn around we dont get these issues discussed because OBAMA SPENDS MORE THAN HALF OF HIS TIME EXPLAINING ANOTHER FACET OF HIMSELF.
drop out obama, let the process take shape. far too much time spent on "me...."

everything the Obama messiah says is "the truth" among his followers. soon, there will be no need for us rural slobs to "cling" to our guns and religion. we will have the government bureaucrat to believe and hope in....
It is a sad day in America that this intellectual marxist got this far in the process

'Obama also suggested Clinton was "out of touch," accusing her of being beholden to lobbyists'
Excuse me, you said this comment at a fund raiser with the mega rich of California!
http://www.zombietime.com/obama_visits_billionaires_row/

a land without borders (we have that now)
or religion (we can worship Obama)
or war (get rid of the guns and sing kumbaya we have been saved by the bureaucrat)
John Lenin would be so proud of you Obamaites

How could anyone defend these comments? People honestly think religion is merely a product of job loss?? That people are only religious when they are unhappy?? This is insane. I've met gazillions of happy, employed religious people. And very few of them were gun-toting xenophobes--despite Obama's attempt to lump all those characteristics in together.
Oh, yeah, and let's talk about CONTEXT: The context was that he was in SF where he didn't realize he was being taped. The context was that he THOUGHT HE COULD GET AWAY WITH IT. That was the context.

Obama I'll be the best president ever because his presidency has been said in the bible in HEBREWS 11:32-34 "What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of ...Barak... Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut, Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations. Hebrews 11:32-24 BBE Keep in on Barak!

I read a few comments and can see that for the people who like obama,they think he can do no wrong. He hates guns, he hates religion and he hates whites. THAT IS OBVIOUS....when it was made public that he had raised his children in a bigoted church, he turned it on the white people. He even put down his own white relatives. OH YES...a REAL uniter! BAH...
WE NEED A REAL HUMAN BEING for our president, not these wealthy people that want to rob us to line the pockets of the corrupt leaders of other countries or the corrupt UN. They DO NOT CARE that our own countrymen are out of jobs...Carter goes out o four country and tells foreigners that Americans are greedy. Obama introduces legislation that will shave off nearly a percent of our country's gross domestic product to give to other countries....we have poor right here in our country. Besides, it is our God given right to give to whatever charity we deem worthy, not the wealthy politicians who won't move out of their mansions and give their own money. WE pay for them to be guarded 24 hours a day by ARMED secret service, yet they do not want US to protect ourselves in any situation. Again, I say BAH! You all want a socialism? Move to a country that's trying to get OUT of socialism. That's the best way for you to try that!

YES I AM BITTER AND SENATOR OBAMA EXPRESSES MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY. If the Clintons can leave the Whitehouse with less than $500,000 and then end up making 109 million dollars and Bill Clinton still accept a pension for presidents in excess of 1 million dollars, and the average family cannot afford healthcare, and they are losing jobs to China and Mexico of course I am bitter!

If Barack gets kudos for his honesty well I have some for him. He is bitter and angry at Pennsylvanians because he's spending 5 million dollars a week in ads and he hasn't been able to "buy" them off. He jets off to his wealthy donors in SF and basically attacks their way of life. For someone who is supposedly open minded and wordly, he is very quick to stereotype and portray tens of millions of Americans as angry and bitter. Unfortunately for him, those tens of millions of people out there he belittled vote and they will have the ultimate say on Barack Obama.

I think it's hilarious, Ben, the number of people who just hate your blog but continue to come here and comment! You've done it again with your "horrible" blog...generated nearly two thousand posts on this one piece since yesterday. Seems like you are doing fine. I also love the comments about Obama being just the right person to speak "truth" to the rich and powerful elite...FYI, folks, he IS one of the rich and powerful elites. People never cease to amaze me. I am originally from Allentown, PA. These comments Obama made will not go over well with a huge number of people no matter how much people from the west coast and other areas think they are just the right thing to say. Should be an interesting election afterall. Keep up the good work, Ben. I really enjoy your site and blog.

Comments like 'Bitter' will sink you Mr. Obama. So what you are telling me Mr.Obama is that i am bitter because i lost my Job, i am bitter that i can't pay my bills on time, i am bitter that my children are not getting the food and healthcare they need, that i am bitter and am turning to the almighty GOD for help. WOW MR.OBAMA WOW. people like you make me SICK.

Let's see now. His mother was a Marxist. His wife is an angry, wealthy elitist, who benefitted from affirmative action and now gripes constantly about America. His Pastor is a ranting racist who shouts "God damn America" from the pulpit. His supporters treat him like he's the second coming. All these things including an ever revealing list of things he says, make mim potentially the scariest candidate we've ever had for president.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what Obama said. Hillary and the pro-Hillary media (Politico) are just reaching for something, anything... Why isn't your website covering Billary's lies about her Bosnia trip and their lame excuses to explain it. These kind of flat-out lies show the character, or lack of, that the Clintons have. Just drop out already, Hillary.

now the little snake has decided that he should have used differnt words. Yes, you should have. But at least you allowed Americans to understand what you really think about this country once your teleprompter is turned off

The real Barack Obama is slowly being revealed through his own words and actions. He won't renounce his publicly racist and anti-semitic mentors Rev Wright and Minister Farrakhan, but he publicly humiliates his white grandmother for a supposedly racist comment she made in private after being threatened by some black transients at a bus stop. He laughs away being given hundreds of thousands of dollars by Chicago political "fixer" Rezko. He plays the race card in South Carolina against of all people, President Bill Clinton. The Dems better wake up and nominate Hilalry Clinton or face disaster in the fall.

The best comment I have seen on this subject:
"I'm a Erie, PA Republican and I find myself in an uncommon position ? defending Senator Obama. In my opinion, the only controversy here is that McCain and Clinton are so out of touch that they don't realize that Obama is right. People are bitter about the unresponsiveness of their government, and they do vote on issues that don't really affect their lives directly, because those issues appeal to raw emotion and tap into their frustrations. The real controversy here is that Sens. McCain and Clinton think the people of "Main Street America" are too stupid to understand the point Obama was making. Talk about condescension!"

It was refreshing to see how many comments showed an understanding of the senators remarks. Every sophisticated urbanite knows the ghettos of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are really the fault of those ignorant, toothless, gun toting religious, bigoted small town residents and farmers. It was a relief that the Rev. Wright can be an honored friend and advisor by the senator while he can see that the real racist is the rural Pennsylvanian who goes to church and lives hundreds of miles from the big city. Madison Ave. and Hollywood have spent a century belittling every one who isn't one of them and it's finally paying off. People are finally realizing that New York and LA know what's best for us. Sen. Clinton did point out after all that those rural boobs in Iowa and such places who did vote for Sen. Obama don't really count. We destroyed whole cultures, exterminated whole species and plowed under whole states to create and sustain their Urban lifestyle. Now that they can transverse their concrete jungle and pick their corn and wheat off the shelf without ever leaving a paved surface it's time for us all to benefit from the intellectual and moral superiority. We certainly don't want them to have the time to contemplate the price that had to be paid so they could remake the places where the deer and the antelope and the Iriqous used to play.

"Relgion is the opium of the masses."
I have seen this quote repeatedly posted on this thread. I wonder if the poster believes this also applies to the Reverand Wright and his followers...which include the Obamas. My guess is Wright counts on this being the case (all the way to the bank and to the huge multimillion dollar 10K square foot condo in the ritzy Illinois neighborhood all bought for him by his "masses"). Sure looks and sounds that way.

The truly sad part about all of this is that half the commenters on this board have their head so far up their arses to realize Obama is right. This is Psychology 101, people. Moreover, politicians have been exploiting the truth of what Obama called out for ages. Times get bad, pols call for those most impacted to "rally around the flag" ..a flag covered in xenophobia, anti-semitism, racism, whichever group is convienent to throw your problems in front of instead of the government. This is no different than Obama calling blacks out for blaming immigrants for job loss in the debates. His only mistake, if he made one, was assuming he could talk to all of us honestly as adults. We're used to politicians treating us like kids, telling us everything is ok, its not our fault, lying to us when its obvious they know the crap they're feeding the public is just that..crap demagoguery.
And Ben, you're just as bad. You nkow exactly what Obama was saying, but you shaped this just right to rile up all the Drudge chumps.

Comments like 'Bitter' will sink you Mr. Obama. So what you are telling me Mr.Obama is that i am bitter because i lost my Job, i am bitter that i can't pay my bills on time, i am bitter that my children are not getting the food and healthcare they need, that i am bitter and am turning to the almighty GOD for help. WOW MR.OBAMA WOW. people like you make me SICK.

Thank you, Freud. I get what you mean (and I know I am not the only one)...if we don't agree with Obama, we are just too stupid to be believed. Got it. Tell me , Dr. Freud, how can you stand being in this horrible country, and just when does your flight leave for Germany....or Russia, perhaps?

It's amazing how the media, Clinton and McCain are framing this as a gaffe. Obama is right. I see it all the time. People are bitter all over america because they've been getting screwed by the republicans and bush for the last 8 years. If american's can't handle the truth, they don't deserve a smart and honest president like Obama. This is disgusting.

What a pathetic candidate --- to think that the reason people "cling" to religion is becuase of bitterness. He and his bitter wife just don't understand what being spiritual and believing drawn to higher purpose is all about.

I am a lifelong Democrat but Obama's comments are very insulting. I am a religious gun owner who thinks NAFTA killed our manufacturing base. Here in Erie we lost thousands of good jobs that supported families. I am not "clinging" to these positions. My family is religious. My family hunts. I work hard for a living.
Please Obama save us from our foolish frustrations? WTF?
Has Obama ever worked a shift in his life? Mr. Harvard Law and his whining wife have no clue what it's like to really work hard to support a family.

Okay - - everybody needs to stop commenting right now and go to this link - - Ben YOU need to be the first one to go to the link. I have always wondered about you, but now I am actually getting worried. What is unclear at this point is "why do you have this job", man it is amazing that you have this job. I try to stay away from judging people, however, you are not qualified to do this job and that is a fact. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G8dRMofHNs

The rednecks, or the "common folk" are the also the ones with the guts to stand up and tell it like it is (ofcourse someone like Oboma would find offense to that). The rednecks will probally be the ones who save this country from selling- out to every tom (china), dick (saudi arabia) and harry (global power corporations)that comes along.
The so-called educated need to get out of "classroom/university world of theory" and join us rednecks in the "real world" where, as Forrest Gump said, "Gump happens." And keep your "change" Mr. Oboma..we dont need your ideas of "change."
As a unified country we need to "get back" in touch with who we once were, and still ARE...good people. Change yourself (and your kool-aid drinking followers)into the type of "real" common folk that you apparently despise so much..then we can "talk."

I work hard for my money. In hard times and good. Obama doesn't have a clue. God and guns have nothing to do with illegal immigrants taking what is not theirs. If I have to do it legal, so should everyone else.

Obama was trying to tell us that we are down about the lost of jobs, the cost of gas, the cost of food, the cost of health insurance, the cost of everything. When you work the streets of Chicago you see people turn to guns and crime to feed their families. You see people turn to God for help. The people who are different are taking jobs from us. We need a new direction and Obama has said how we can get this change. It is wonderful how many are turning out in this primary season. This is why his wife can be proud of this. He will fight for us just like he did for those in Chicago and Illinois.Even in small towns everywhere. How would you like to watch every word. He is black with a name they have even tried to use against him. He will fight because he knows how. We need this man.

Very interesting remarks which are being widely reported and commented upon. The more scrutiny Obama faces the more it is obvious that he is simply another liberal Democrat, not at all the "above partisanship, etc." image he began with. And he shows himself to be a snob who has bought into the questionable theory of "compensation." In other words, uneducated rurual and suburban voters are "bitter" and have turned to gun ownership (?), religion, and anti-immigration xenophobia to provide compensation for their economic and social frustrations. If Obama really believes stuff like this, he will go down big in November.

Defending Obama's comments:
1. On bitterness in general: Barack is sincere. He cannot help feeling the bitterness and devastation in neglected steel mill towns and farms across the state of Pennsylvania. To him, it is the direct result of failed policy and corruption of Washington for the past 25 years. You see why he strongly opposes NAFTA and reject the lobbyist money in Washington. Washington really needs to shed its corruption. Of all the politicians, Barack is the one who feels extremely responsible for it even though he only has a few years in Washington.
3. Economic policy that brings prosperity and cure ?bitterness? : Both Clinton and you have similar economic recovery policies. You need to stress who can bring the changes long over due. Is it a guy who has the courage to say "bitterness" where there is bitterness or his opponents who cannot even feel bitterness or admit to it? For the record, this is the same guy who had courage and foresight to oppose the war from the first time. He promises to end the war, fight against poverty and do your very best to bring prosperity back to Pennsylvania and the rest of the country.
4. On Religion: Pennsylvanians are religious people. Their strong belief in God provided inner strength for Pennsylvanians to cope with the bad times. God has been with them all through the tough times and frankly has done enough. What Pennsylvanians need and deserve is a good government. Barack indicated many times that he would like to regain American people?s trust in the Government. Pennsylvanians need help from Government too.
5. On Xenophobia and guns : Barack promise to bring change to Washington and bring back hope to American society. He said many times that he would create a society where working people earn respectable wages, can educate their kids, retire with dignity etc, a society where people are less afraid of each other and where guns become more associated with hunting than protection...

The fact millions of illegal aliens are here and continue to pour in across the border isn't about bitterness. It's about the cheap labor being condoned not just by the current administration but a viewpoint of Obama . He needs to rethink his desire to fingerpoint at Americans with the "scapegoating", "xenophobe" and other labels he uses when Americans say "enough with illegal immigration and their needs".
I see Obama has no idea of what this open border, amnesty situation is doing and he doesn't want to understand. He's made up his mind .
Of course it's easier to point his finger at others . Isn't that what has been going on for the past 8 years ? If Americans complain, then apparently there's something fundamentally wrong and unfair with them--we've heard tha assessment long enough.
Americans are tired of carrying the load to educate, nurse and hand out benefits to anyone who can sneak into the country. To stand there and pretend it isn't impacting this country is not only ridiculous, it's dangerous.
WTG Obama. Just what we need. Another president pandering to everyone but Americans who are left with the bills and the mess to clean up.

Hillary and McCain have one common enemy right now and that's Obama! Obama is the real deal and everyone knows it! They both see he's the clear shot winner and they will prance on any opportunity to try and bring the man down - even by trying to twist, distort or magnify something he mentioned. Honestly, i can understand McCain pulling something like this - he's on the other side! BUT for the life of me, why is Hillary trying to destroy her very own party?! She will stop at nothing to win even if it means dragging down her own party along with her. She manipulative, selfish and patronising and this is the very reason i will not vote for her. She needs to work on her character, she is not painting a picture of someone who I can trust ? she is painting the picture of desperation!

I can't believe the spin that was placed on this comment. When factories close down and jobs are sent over seas..... how do you think we feel in rural town America.... We turn to religion (to God) to pray and gain strength to make it from day to day. People are losing their homes, farms and jobs causing the suicide rate to rise. People are losing farms that have been in their families for generation...We may not hate immigrants, but we are definitely resentful to illegal immigrants coming in taking what jobs are left because they will settle for far lower wages... So before you critize these comments... walk in the foot steps of some of us rural town Americans.

===> There is a lot of truth to Obama's statement --- people are 'bitter' about the way things have gone on in this country for too many years, including during the Bill Clinton years. ------- WE have a war nobody wants that is costing too much in lives and money; ... illegal-immigration and a porous border that the government in unwilling to fix; ... an economy that seems to be going downhill largely because of a poorly regulated financial industry; ... and the loss of jobs because of poorly-desinged 'free-trade' agreements, such as NAFTA. .... Should we not be bitter at our government? ........
-------------------------------

5. ...a society where people are less afraid of each other and where guns become more associated with hunting than protection...---------------------------------------THAT STATEMENT IS VERY TELLING. So, you are essentially saying that Obama is going to cure all the ills of the USA, people are going to be happy all the time, everybody will have a job (you ASSUME everyone WANTS a job), and nobody will be on drugs or ever try to rob or kill anyone, so we should just get rid of all the guns that we use for protection...CAUSE WE WON'T NEED THEM. If we elect the "savior" Obama, we can all live in UTOPIA!!! OMG, what a naive mindset you people have!!!

So they all make mistakes . They need to think first , check their words carefully , have their
speeches checked out before opening their mouth. Whether it is McCain , Obama , Hillary or Bill Clinton. So Hillary had her Bosnia misspoke , the other day Bill made some silly remarks and now Obama concedes he made some ill conceived remarks. As Bill said is it time for them to chill out ?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_el_pr/obama_clinton

Obama is a joke. He is trying to explain this away in much the same way he tried to explain away the Rev Wright comments, i.e. people are angry and bitter... Don't make us out to be members of your church or even compare us to that. His description of Pennsylvanians that have fallen on hard times is obnoxious.

The "Invisible Man in a Suit" speaks again. When those bandages were off you could still hear the invisible man speak. Obama is the same. When was the last time Obama went to one of those small towns, ate in a mom and pop cafe, bought some trinket from a store and chatted with the people. Well, I do it all the time. I don't hear bitterness in the people. A sadness of the ways things were. But no one is sitting on their porch with a gun waiting to take their frustrations out on the next passerby. How arrogant can he be? And now he is trying to explain it all away again.
Oh please, "Invisible Man in a Suit", please cover your mouth with the bandages.

So he is saying he's losing Pennsylvania because the folks in small towns are gun totin', bible thumpin' xenophobic hillbillies?
What stupid and pathetic things for him to say. He's saying he's
losing Pennsylvania because of hillbillies?
Well look out Mr. Obama. Wait till you get to West Virginia and
Kentucky! They are typical white people!

Thanks to Barack Obama for once again calling a spade a spade. How refreshing to have a politician around who sees it like it is, and calls it as he sees it.
Though not a Pennsylvanian, I'm enormously bitter and disgusted. After years of hard, hard work as an intelligent, diligent student, then a stay-at-home mom raising two kids who are now wonderful young adults, I was divorced and left to survive the rest of my hopeless, shoddy life in a crappy teaching job where I have to rent out a room to survive, spend about $200 a year on clothing, and drive a car with 215K miles on it because I can't afford better. I am a blue-collar professional drowning financially while working a stressful, difficult, important job that few people could survive in. You bet your *** I'm bitter!!!!!! I was treated as a piece of garbage in divorce court because I raised my kids! I repeat, You bet your *** I'm bitter!!!!!! Time to revive the guillotine!
Thanks to this politician for recognizing the anger and bitterness so many of us "working class folk" feel - with just cause.

Obama needs to be tough on immigration, this is the problem why people are losing job. There is nothing wrong with an American cleaning or gardening for minimum wage. But there is a problem with an international criminal who illegally crossed the United states border and does the same job for less. This next comment may make people go against what i just said, but what ever. In my opinion anyone who crosses an international border illegally should be shot, kinda like Israel and many countries. Once some are shot this will prevent more from coming over, because it is a deterrent.

obama is a marxist hard left elitist.
he is not post racial but he is post hippie.
his hyde park support base is made up of mareica haters who by the way are paid by public taxes and grants.
he is an evil guy and his backers want to cjange america to a hippie colony.

Hussien Obama hates white people, Or maybe he is an evil genious.
Yes, lets put down gun owning, bitter whites who are unemployed and go to church, angry all these years at the clinton nafta deal and pourus mexican fence..brillant, what is this guy thinking?...is this his idea of getting the white vote or his wife's idea of "we need more white people" comment? He and Pinko, SF leftists sure have a pulse on what's going on in rural america, give me a break.

Let?s see here. Hillary gets into all kind of trouble for publicly & blatantly lying about practically everything she is running on; Taking money from Columbia (her and Bill jointly on taxes); won?t disclose how much she took from Columbia and others in 2007; fired Mark Penn for taking money from Columbia; and polls start to show she is losing ground to Obama in PA (actually losing in a few and her internal polls). Bush, Petaraeus and Crocker come out and make her and McCain look like complete fools for their complicity in the Iraq and Mid-East disaster. What does she do?
1. Trot out Lanny Davis, who visits her alledged right wing arch enemies (really her new found allies) at the WSJ, FOX NEWS and others. Davis dredges up Rev. Wright and publishes an op ed at the Clintons behest in the WSJ about the nexus of Obama and Wright.
2. Next day came the full coordinated sinister engagement.
3. Davis is followed, on cue and like clockwork by Dick Cheney inserting himself into the Wright debate (as a Clinton surrogate).
4. Cheney is immediately joined by Bill Clinton attacking the press and Obama over Hillary?s Bosnia lies.
5. Other high level, newly minted, HRC GOP Party surrogates, McCain (et al), Indiana GOP Party, PA GOP Party and others began pushing this nothing of a story to distract, mislead, distort the truth and shamelessly fabricate an issue out of nothing.
6. CNN (Clinton News Network) and other liberal media chimed into the fray to exploit the nothingness story.
The only purpose of this Clinton/GOP strategy along with the coterie of fools who are pushing it is to embarass Obama and try to throw him off stride. The GOP desparately wants to run against HRC. They are terrrified of Obama! They will do anything to help HRC win PA and keep her farce campaign going all the way to the convention.
But this too will fail. Obama is a man of time and destiny. This is his time. And his destiny is to lead the USA. Many of you HRC supporters are complicitly aligned with the GOP already with your mutinous candidate. Yet Obama continues to win without you. If Obama loses, and the hellishly mutated GOP/Clinton future emerges whereby all the rest of our good jobs leave to places like Columbia; I don?t know how you people can look at yourselves in the mirror. Your reality will be, your assassins were yourselves

Obama is a jerk. He keeps disclosing what he really thinks about our country and our people. His pastor damns America, his wife isn't proud of her country and he thinks religous people, gun owners and opponents of illegal immigration are bitter people. Dear Obama, NO Thanks, we can do a lot better than you.

His comments are correct for those
people involved in feeling the bitterness. Lots of "regular" folks are giving their children to Bush's war and are disappointed in how "it" is going. Yes, there is going hunting for sport, and going to church and praying for God's way out of the mess our Country is in now!!!

So lets assume Obama said the converse of this statement: "If you are rich and have a good job and live in a big city, you are of course going to be against religion, guns, and welcome illegal immigrants." You've got to assume this is what he thinks. Typical liberal BS. Go McCain!!

I don't see where Obama is wrong. Most of anti-Obama posts prove exactly what he's saying. While the country's economy is going down like a dinosaur, the "little guy" is distracted with emotional issues like gun rights, racism and church v. state. The problem is that repealing NAFTA isn't going to help the situation any more than the Taft-Hartley Act prevented the Great Depression. The small towns that Obama is talking about are becoming ghost towns.
Fortunately hand-gun manufacture and law enforcement are two thriving domestic industries that depend upon one another.
Privatizing prisons is another great idea--let's incentivize incarceration.
We can build all those new prisons we need in the small towns for those hard-working, gun-toking, pure-religion Americans to work as guards.

GIVE ME A BREAK OBAMA'S REMARKS WERE RIGHT ON THE MARK. IM NOT AN ELITIST, NOT BLACK, NOT THE YOUTH VOTE. HE WAS HONEST AND FRANK! I GUESS THE PEOPLE WHO SAID HE WAS WRONG, WANT THE FAKE POLITICIANS. PLEASE DON'T ***** TO ME ABOUT THE ECONOMY IF YOU VOTE FOR ANOTHER REPUBLICAN IN OFFICE. OH YES BUT JOHN MCCAIN AND HIS ELITIST SELF SINCE FURTHERING HIS OWN POLITICAL CAREER MARRYING FOR MONEY. YOU GO, LET THE ECONOMY KEEP GOING DOWNHILL IF YOU VOTE HIM IN. WHEN THAT KEEPS HAPPENING DON'T ****ING *****. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ***** ABOUT BUSH, WHEN YOU IDIOTS VOTED HIM IN OFFICE!!!!

As a small town PA resident, I have to say I don't "cling" to God, guns, or racism. I honor God my creator, I use guns for the tools that they are (hunting and self defense), and people, any people, regardless of race, should be punished for ILLEGALLY entering our country, or any other ILLEGAL activity they engage in. But I guess all you big city types are to sophisticated to sit in your 8?x8? back yard and watch your 1.64 children play with the 1 dog and 2 cats while sipping your $8.95 STARSTRUCK?s coffee (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose) to ponder anything beyond the drama of Big Brother 32.

Boy, he has really stepped in it this time. Unfortunately for him, the next two primaries coming up are where "they" live.
Like "they" are subjects in an anthropological study.
Reminds me of this timely quote from one of my very favorite movies:
"Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you're talking about... they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn't think so. People were human beings to him. But to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you'll ever be."
Name that movie!

The petty Clinton campaign are unable to understand the depthness of Obama statement and harping on for narrow poltical gain by nonsense allegation on Obama. I have never seen an honest politician like Obama in the modern world politics.I think Obama is now contesting with to republicans Hillary and MaCain!

The petty Clinton campaign are unable to understand the depthness of Obama statement and harping on for narrow poltical gain by nonsense allegation on Obama. I have never heard an honest politician like Obama in the modern world politics.I think Obama is now contesting with to republicans Hillary and MaCain!

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
McCain & Hillary have berated this statement, but why? Is this not TRUE? Are they naive or stupid?
I've seen my mother cling to religion to make it threw a tough life. When it's hard to pay the bills and what it's like to have to skip meals to save money. She has to turn to God for hope, as do many. It's like a 'Job' complex when you deal with life's crap and just say it must be part of God's plan. A test. I know what it looks like to loose faith in God.
I know that when you don't have a college education. When you can seem to accomplish what you need, you look to place blame on others. You think that because you can't sustain a job it must have been giving to a ****** or taken denied to you because of the White Power Structure. It's because the jobs were shipped to China or India. The oil industry dries up here 'cause it's being pumped out of Iraq or you blame illegal immigrants for taking American jobs. Never once blaming your self.
When people get bitter from a government that increases power for it's self and limits rights to its citizens, you think of your trump card. The second amendment was not for hunting, it was for rebellion. We can not allow our country to fall into deep bitterness.

I thought Sen. Obama spoke his mind, showing his hatred for those of faith, those that hold on to constitutional rights, and those that oppose ILLEGAL immigration. However, I was surprised that he was so quick to call bitter those with "antipathy" toward people who aren't like them. Let's see, could he be speaking of his own Pastor Wright?

This is non-sense!! This is just a SMOKE SCREEN to keep our eye off the PRIZE and to keep us divided. The press, Hilary and McCain have nothing better to talk about then silly words? Please!! Obama said nothing wrong. In fact, I agree with him that Americans are angry and bitter over the way our country is being run into the ground. So keep telling the truth Obama. We need a true leader like you!!....Obama 08....Pass It On!

I would appreciate it if anyone here that says he simply spoke the truth would explain what exactly the phrase "clings to guns" means? The only thing I can surmise is that he believes that if these "bitter" Pennsylvanians were affluent, they would turn against guns...apparently due to some form of "enlightenment". I would have to agree that that seems to be a rather elitist view.

Who would have thought that the Dems could have fielded weaker candidates than Gore and Kerry? Hillary is chronically "truth-challenged" and Obama is an anti-American, anti-Semetic, racist wolf in sheep's clothing.
They have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in this Presidential campaign.
When will the moderate Democrats take back their party from the radical left?

The Truth?
Ironically, in Mayhill Fowler?s own words, that were deceptively cut & pasted by Politico, CNN, and FOX, Obama was attempting to express the "qualities of hospitality, patriotism and endurance" of those Pennsylvanians who live in abject poverty in the backcountry, to his supporters in Marin County, CA. In other words, her report of the events actually implies that Obama?s goal was to elicit EMPATHY for those fellow Americans, and not to ?condescend? to them as Clinton and McCain quickly charged. The recording of the event that came out later further clearly proves this and shows that he did not stereotype ?all? Americans who are poor, lovers of guns, or religious minded but a very specific group whom he had met and learned about in PA. What is unclear from Fowler?s blog and by Obama?s poor word choice was explained yesterday by Obama addressing voters in Indiana. Put back in the context the words were neither elitist nor condescending nor anti American values: exactly the opposite. Obama was evoking EMPATHY (not pity) for those voters in PA who have so grossly been disinherited by the Clinton-Bush policies, such that, over time, they have become disillusioned (or ?bitter? -- a poor word choice) with campaign promises about economic betterment to the point that they have become accustomed to voting for (or ?cling to? ?the other unfortunate phrasing) candidates based upon other cultural identity issues like guns, religion, affirmative action, illegal immigration, and anti-trade, rather than trust in political promises of a return to the good old days of economic restitution.
Having spent 20 years of my life exactly between Western PA and Southern CA ? two polar opposites of America in class and race which reflects in the value attached to both, guns and faith in making political choices. Yet the hypocritical lying persists. Instead of wearing the ?heartland? of America like those empty gestures of patriotism in lapel pins while crying out for more war, instead of treating the working poor of America that lives in the backwoods of PA as empty caricatures of America?s romanticized goodness, let us bear to look upon them and confront what is in fact ailing the heartland. Obama has once again pulled off yet another band aid of the political status quo in America that has been eating away into America?s fabric: class warfare. Let us not hide behind the convenient politically correct hypocrisies that mask both, poverty and racism, upon which any parasitic corporatized government system feeds by dividing the country to continue hollowing her out from within.
This is more important than Obama?or any political parties. This is about OUR own futures as a nation. The true lovers of America must be willing to confront the truth about her needs. If not ? well, history is replete with examples of what happens as a result of a mob being rallied to cry out, ?Crucify him, Crucify him!? The good guys never win.

OBAMA IS ARROGANT!!!
Yet another reason he will never be elected - his radical comments, radical friends - his background & judgment are just far too questionable to be President of the UNITED States.
WORDS DO MATTER

THE THING THAT REALLY GETS ME IS THAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT US BEHIND OUR BACKS TO SOME WEALTHY FUND-RAISER BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. LITTLE DID HE KNOW THERE WAS A TAPE RECORDER THERE. HE WILL NEVER GET MY VOTE. HILLARY GETS IT!

Obama was obviously referring the "typical white person" who believes in God, the 2nd amendment and does not even care what Harvard educated attorney thinks. This guy is so pejudiced he can't open his mouth without the hate spilling out. Every other page of his biography refers to some racial incident that incensed him. His ancestors were not slaves. His father applied for a student exchange program sponsored by the US. Only priviliged students from his country were offered the chance to be here. I can't understand him constantly representing himself as a poor black boy who suffers this slave legacy. He will soon understand how rural America votes.

Obama's insult reflects the snobbery and contempt that he and his ilk have for Americans in rural areas who don't subscribe to his views. As a small town resident I could well contrast our lack of crime, volunteer fire and rescue squads,help we provide our neighbors and safety of our children to go about town with the conditions prevailing in urban areas. Mr.Obama, your posture is an affront.

Saint Obama always speaks the truth. He is infallible, omniscient and in his politics, omnipotent. He will be President and then when he retires he will be the next Dalai Lama. www.obamafordalailama.blogspot.com

It's not "job loss" it's a whole panoply of what might better be characterized as "lack of economic prosperity." That affects education, health care, property values, municipal government and services, your own sense of your future.... I live in small town Pennsylvania and I take Senator Obama's remarks as on the mark and sympathetic: "Is it any wonder that people hold on to what makes them feel secure when economic prosperity seems to have passed them by?" It's also interesting to me that Gov. Rendell can say that a lot of Pennsylvanians "just aren't ready" to vote for a black... which I took as lending a gubernatorial approval for not being ready... and HIS remarks were NOT taken as critical of Pennsylvanians.

Obama may not have a great deal of personal $wealth,but he does have G Soros backing him.Soros has promised to spend tens of millions of $ to trash talk McCain since he (Soros) knows the money would be wasted trying to find something +(substantial) to bolster Obama's cause!

The Obamas are members of Trinity United in Chicago where the subscribe to "black liberation theology" is preached. James Hal Cone, a professor at Union Theological Seminary inspired this theology. And, he wrote some books about it. Below is a excerpt from one of his books, Theology and Black Power:
"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community.... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."

Sen. Obama was right as so many of his supporters have pointed out. I and many others are angry. You right wing bigots are too stupid to understand that until we got angry there were no guns, we never went to church and we never thought we had a right and responsibility to control our borders. I found a highly intelligent preacher who taught me the truth and made me realize that no jobs have ever been shipped overseas, there aren't twelve million illegal aliens working millions of jobs here and burdening government services while paying little or no taxes and all my misconceptions were foisted on me by a vast right wing conspiracy. Fortunately many similarly misguided small town americans were also enlightened by the senators wisdom before they were driven driven to buying a gun and going out and wreaking havoc in some small town. Without Sen. Obama to guide and save us we are all just dimwitted latent racist troglodytes waiting with our guns to scapegoat imaginary illegal immagrints for our misfortune all in the name of God. Senator , it is a testament to your greatness and benevolence that you are willing to lead and guide such hopeless and ignorant people as us. You are greater even than the great leader Kim Il Sung . Your patience with our ignorance humbles us and you have all our faith that like the great Kim we know you will erase our faults and make us all equal.

The full statement by Obama is correct . It destroyed the Repubs game of hook winking the out of work voters in to something other than the real conditions they live in . He should advertise how they are NOT reporting his speach as is . Strange how Mrs Clinton and McCain speak with one voice . Bill and the rest of her entwined companions are all lobbist . That is where the real money is . Begala . Penn . Carvel . etc . With her in the White House just think of the influence they would have . These are desperate times for them .

Let's see....It will be announced tomorrow that Saint Obama will be giving a speech on class relations on Tuesday at Constitution Hall in Philadelphia in front of twenty U.S. flags. Then immediately after the speech the liberal media will rave about how Lincolnesque and JFKesque it was....and declare it his best speech ever.....

WHO DOES OBAMA THINKS HE IS?? DOES HE KNOW HE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES with everything at stake including PA???? This isnt winning Oprah book of the month club!!! I am living in PA right now and I dont own a gun and nobody I know does!!! I think his comment is so out of touch with what PA represents! I mean is he serious? We have real jobs and if he wants to talk about religion we have all of them from Hindu to Hebrew. PA is a collage of different cultures and religions. We are rich in not only culture but history. 300-500k houses are going like hot cakes around me so I dont know what he is talking about. We are a hub for manufacturing because of our close proximity to ports but yes have lost jobs to overseas but so has every other state!!! We have some of the best Hospitals and Universities in the country. Its a great place to live! He better learn how to speak because he will lose BIG in PA !!!

Mccain will not be elected in November with Phil Gramm as his top economics advisor. His ties to the credit crunch will kill the Mccain campaign.
However, does anyone think they are better off now then they where 8 years ago?
Okay, I'll support Mccain for cheaper oil and hope someone else's kids unecessarily die for oil games in the next 4 years.

It interesting that Obama has a tendency to stereo-type groups of people. Starting with uith white grandmother being stereo-type as being type white person afraid of African-Americans. Now a whole group of Pennsylvanians stereo-typed as backwards (i.e. hillybily, redenck, etc.). Isn't it a little disturbing that a supposed uniter can be so careless in the his chose of words. Is this what he subconsciously really thinks about people who don't live in cities and don't have an Ivy League educations?

Once Obama becomes President on the 20th of January, 2009, you haters will realize how ridiculous your statements are. Here we live in a country where many if not most of our U.S. Presidents were white supremacists ( see Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan,etc.), and we're wasting political time over a statement that Obama made about being bitter.
Funny that many of the same people didn't have a problem when Ronald Reagan began his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he unashamedly pandered to the White Citizens' Council ( remember that Philadelphia, MS. was were the bodies of three civil rights workers were found after they had been savagely murdered). Where were you haters then???
And where were you haters when Bush 41 was parading Willie Horton around with a political noose around his neck? Or when Bush 43 publicly called someone a " major league ***hole?
Now what do you want? Barack Obama speaking the truth, or HRC lying about sniper fire? Obama has put his foot in his mouth during this campaign, but what person speaking to millions every day wouldn't have? Did he lie as does HRC? Did he play us for ignorant fools, as does HRC? Is only half of his political brain functioning as does McCain's, who can't even decide whether or not struggling Americans should receive help with their mortgages, and who is comatose when it comes to such an important matter as the economy?
And you who worry about Obama being too far to the left? If you would stop and think you would realize that "events are in the saddle and ride men" (Emerson), meaning that events will pull whoever is Prez toward the center, either left to right or vice-versa. I would all on us to "Chill Out," but then I'd sound too much like, well, you know . . . -www.shermancrockett.com/blog
OBAMA '08
P.S.- I suppose that Hillary does know about guns, considering all of the sniper fire that she's taken!!!

@unionave,
you forgot to mention that two days after his heartfelt speech on class relations and why hillbillies love their bible and their gun, he will tell us that his grandmother was a "typical white small town person" with a gun, a bible and xenophobia...

I find it intersting that Obama has not delt with the issues in his own home. Quote-
?Lately there has been a little typical sort of political flare-up because I said something that everybody knows is true,? Mr. Obama said, ?which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter.?
What would make anyone think he is capable of dealing with the problems he's referring to, on a national level?
Michael Cline

The media didn?t spill the truth about Obama until most of the primaries were done with. Many people felt lied to and I know many (now former) Bama supporters that are really upset they have been bamboozled. All of them have said if they knew then what they know now, they would never have voted for him. I IMAGINE MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALREADY VOTED WOULD LIKE ANOTHER CHANCE!
When Senator Obama (or surrogates like Pastor Wright) say something stupid ? ?it was taken out of context?, according to the biased media.
When a Clinton or McCain (or a supporter) says something stupid ? ?they are selfish, evil or a multitude of other insults?, according to the biased media.
Many Obama supporters seem to be such enablers, excusing everything as his being ?truthful.? HIS ENTIRE CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN BASED ON LIES, EXCUSES AND DAMAGE CONTROL!
Somehow, I don?t see him truly relating to rural Pennsylvanians OR North Carolinians, considering his 20-year relationship with radical Jeremiah Wright, and his ties to anti-Americans Rezko, Ayers, Farrakhan and other shady characters.
SAY NO TO OBAMA!
HILLARY / EDWARDS 2008!

Obama supporters are just too funny! When Ferraro said something dumb, they called her the second coming of Hitler and demanded she leave Hillary's campaign. Now, Obama says something stupid and it's the "media" blowing it all out of proportion or "drudge" or "Hillary supporters". Give me a break. You guys have no class at all. Just admit Obama said something stupid and move on.

I'm 67 and white. I think Obama got it right. I also think until people begin to talk about it, nothing will change. Clinton's response today is another lie. Now she's pandering to her own base. I understand what he said, I understand what he meant, and I agree with him. Mr. Clinton's remarks today about Barack not stealing cars- I know what he said and what he meant.

Whether you agree or disagree with the comments these are not comments that sound like a leader or someone trying to unify America. This was just a glimpse into the his true thoughts of America, why he listened to a bigoted preacher of hate for 20 years.
I prefer a message of hope in America, that we can be strong again. I vote Hillary, a true leader.

Senator Obama doesn't revise, extend or apologize for his comments. And I find it ironic that the media is able to be so easily baited by the McCain and Clinton campaigns into not exercising any kind of intellectual thought to consider these comments. It truly is astounding. Have we forgotten Howard Dean's comments that the Republican Party wants people voting on guns and gays in order to distract people. I'm sick of this NONSENSE!!!!!

To begin with wanted to tell everyone that I am a democrat first and a clinton supporter second. Obama no doubt gets my respect. He ran a different campaign and truly inspired many in the run for which he deserves all the credit. I had supported him with all the recent controversies but this recent incident has made him lose a lot of that respect. It is not at all to do with the comment though I agree the choice of words were wrong.
1. There is resentment, frustration(bitterness towards the government) among people but they don't resort to violence or antipathy. A very small percentage might but most of AMERICA is resilient and have deep rooted faith and beliefs.
2. This occurred at a private fundraiser in california among some rich donors to the campaign, an event where the media wasn't invited, if we didn't have the lady from HP record the talk, it would remain unknown. If he meant to be honest he should have raised it in a small town in PA and addressed the issue head on. Seems to me like same old politics which unfortunately back fired.
3. As a hard core dem I personally took offence(in the same way when HRC implied she and mc cain are ready but obama ? ) when he blamed the clinton administration for the lack of jobs when facts state that unemployment decreased from in PA 7.2% to 4.6% during those years. Again within closed doors to please some of his own fundraisers.
I know this is a very passionate election year and If in any way my comments might have hurt others (that was definitely not the intent)- deep felt apologies are on the table!
Amen

On page 15 of "Dreams from My Father" Obama made similar disparaging comments about small town life. When I pointed this out in a blog prior to Feb 5th, Obama's apologists claimed that he was only channeling his grandfather, and that the opinions about small town people were not really his. In other words, they threw Obama's grandfather under the bus. Now, it seems, Obama himself must own up to his long time attitude about small town life - while courting voters from those same small towns. It makes it tough for him to pretend to be respecting the point of view of the red state voter.

Hey, I'm a proud black Republican. But I most say, when will you Dems learn that Hilary is a wolf in sheep clothing. As an American, I'm tired of hearing about all of this crap. He said this she said that. Can we all just give it a break.

Gosh, such stupidty. Elitist refers to attitude, not money. All these Obuma intellectuals talking about candidates' money when elitist refers to someone's attitude about their politics, religion, etc or how they view their fellowman. 6th grade reading level is right.

For those who defend Obama's statment as true, I will join you in so far as that anger and frustration CAN lead people to cling to their deepest values and fear those who are different. But, where I beg to differ greatly and what I think most middle-class American's believe is that it isn't nececesarily happening NOW in America. For the majority, most people are don't cling to these values out of frustration and for Obama to paint such a broad stroke is amazing. It is offensive what he said and for many of you who try to explain it away just like the Wright controversy is truly out of step with mainstream America.

YOU CANNOT DEFEND THIS ONE...NO MISTAKES HERE....WORDS ARE THE BASIS OF OBAMA CAMPAIGN AND THE WORDS HE SPOKE IN RE OF SMALL TOWN GUN TOTING AMERICANS IN PA ARE VERY STRONG, WHICH TO ME .....HOW CAN HE BACK TRACK ON WORDS THAT SPEAK LOUDER THAN ANY SPEECH AND ANY MOVEMENT ? ANTI AMERICAN SLANDER AT ITS BEST ...HE LEARNED FROM A GREAT TEACHER REV. WRIGHT!!

"Ahh.. the Huffington post as a source. Such credibility."
Normally, I'd agree. However, the Huffington Post also had a 51 minute, three second audio recording to back up their claim.
The recording could have been faked, but I doubt it. Particularly since the Obama campaign is making to attempt to make that claim.

Some persons would have us believe Obama is "telling it like it is." But if he were really telling it like he thinks it is, it would go something like: "Poor fearful, deluded, white primitives, clinging to their gun rights, their religion, their anti-trade and anti-immigrant sentiments -- these are just some of the many things upon which we educated sophisticates bestow our unending disdain."

Okay, I'll support Mccain for cheaper oil and hope someone else's kids unecessarily die for oil games in the next 4 years.
Posted By: Brian | April 12, 2008 at 07:11 PM________________________________________Hoping somebody's child dies in Iraq or Afghanistan. Now, there is a TRUE Democrat right there....telling the truth about how he hates our troops and hope they die.

These 'simple' people owned guns, went to church, wanted a secure border, and disliked bad trade policy long before Barry Obama was came into the picture. The imagery he painted with his words of these crazy white people huddling in paramilitary compounds grasping onto guns while going to their cult-like gatherings to rant and rave about 'those different looking people' and plotting to kill any illegal that crosses their path speaks volumes to what this guy really thinks.

If you think about it, Obama's assessment of small town PA sounds eerily similar to how Rev. Wright and AAs of the south side of Chicago appear to be.
"bitter, clinging to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti hispanic immigrant as a way to explain their frustrations"

What was it that Obama said was not true, the people I know turn their religion or recriation when times are tough or get their jobs sent overseas, the Clintons love to spin it all the time, personally I thinks the Clintons are nuts...

Obama does not have to justify his comments. He is right on all of the above. His comments are true and I am bitter about not having insurance, working two jobs, and never getting ahead. Hillary has never "rolled up her sleeves" like I have.

Obama is a priviledged individual whose wealth & status have largely come from his talents,education, and political savy.He is in the right place at the right time, nothing more, nothing less.
He "sells" what the audience wants to hear,as substance of character isn't an issue in this election.
If your American, lost income, own a gun,& live by Christian based principles, this makes you bitter because Mr. Obama said so.
I've lost my home, filed chapter 7, have cancer & cardiovascular disease, own several guns, believe in Christian principles,but I am not bitter or angry. There isn't time in my life for such self indulgence as I look forward to the next challenge.
It's how this middle american perceives things because I'm goal oriented, and still a free person in a free society.
I hope THAT message gets attention, but I'm not running for public office.

EDFromNH posted this little gem the other night. When he says he hates Hillary he is not kidding. He hates a lot of people. Especially jews. He posts under a variety of names but you can always spot his hatred.__________________________________________________________________________________________________ WHICH IS THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION? -------- A few years ago when Hamas declared a cease fire with Israel --- Israel responded by rapidly assassinating multiple Hamas leaders within days. When Hamas responded by ending the cease fire and killing Israeli?s, the U.S. media called them the terrorists. Not once did I hear the media blame Israel for its outrageous breach of the cease fire. --------- Saturday Night Live should do a skit about how ?in the tank? the U.S. media is for Israel. No matter how many more Palestinians are killed by Israel than Israeli?s are killed by Palestinians, and no matter who starts a cycle of violence, its always the Palestinians --- the people who have had their land stolen --- who are the terrorists --- never the Israeli?s who started the killing by stealing their land. -------- I admire Carter for talking with Hamas. Like Obama he is a firm supporter of Israel, but he also understands the Palestinian grievances. --------- When the hypocrites say Hamas cannot be spoken to because it does not recognize Israel?s right to exist as a Jewish state --- it must be remembered Israel did not recognize the Palestinians right to ever have a Palestinian state for roughly fifty years, up until about just a decade ago. -------- When the hypocrites say Hamas cannot be talked to because they are terrorist --- it must be remembered that Israel was founded by terrorist, and that for the last sixty years it has causes probably at least an order of magnitude more terror, measured in terms of maimings and killings of innocents than it has received. And not only is America forced to talk with the terrorist who are Israeli, but we are forced subsidize its economy, pay for its weapons, protect it from the world?s moral outrage in the UN, and fight its war for it in Iraq. --------- WHEN WILL AMERICAN BE ALLOWED TO HONESTLY DISCUSS WHETHER OR NOT ?JUDEO-RACISM? --- WHICH HAS FORCED AMERICA TO BE THE WORLD?S MAJOR SUPPORTER OF ANTI-ARAB RACISM FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS --- IS JUST AS BIG, IF NOT A BIGGER THREAT, TO AMERICA THAN THE ANTI-AMERICAN ?ISLAMO-FASCISM? --- WHICH IT HAS ALMOST CERTAINLY LARGELY CAUSED. Posted By: EDFromNH | April 10, 2008 at 07:56 PM

All you condescending, snobby,big-city liberals who look down on people from rural back grounds just wait! When things go bad, and they will, we'll see who survives. When the infrastructure in this country collapses and you can't get your organically grown, overpriced veggies from the corner market or defend yourselves from looters or worse then go ahead and leave your precious cities behind and try to scratch out a living in the "wilderness". We'll see how that law degree will serve you then. You'll soon discover that it was useful to buy an expensive foreign car but ain't ( yes, AIN'T) worth a bucket of **** when it comes to helping you hunt or grow your own food. Hunting may prove difficult for all those who refuse to own or believe firearms are evil entities that should all be outlawed. Boy, "you people" sure are in for a shock! Good luck, jerks!

The evolution of a sophisticated position: 1)It was in the Huffington post, so it can't be true that he said it. 2)If he did say it, it is true. 3)IF anyone was offended by it, he's sorry that he said it in such a way that people understood what he meant.

Why do right wing racists and corporate media elitists hate America, and work so tirelessly to destroy those who would save her from herself? To all the mollys, skips and other mortified conservative minions, "Mirror, mirror on the wall..." Can't stand what yo see huh?

Obama was speaking in San Francisco. We can consider ourselves fortunate that he did not include heterosexuality in that liberal's nightmare list of things we cling to in the dark times of our bitter ignorance. Maybe next speech.

Senator Obama small town statement sounds like he putting people in a stereotype. Listen when Senator Obmama and Sen Clinton were in MS campaigining neither candiate set foot in the small towns in the state. His stereotypical comments were uncalled for,stupid. To categorize some in small town elist is wrong. His swipe can not only be applied to the midwest and Pa but other communities in the region on the country. To those states where Obama has campaigned has he visited any small towns in your states or did he bypass them for the more metropolitian areas? think about it. I can tell you hoestly that Vicksburg ms has never gotten a reciption from presidental canidates of both parties.

I think the whole explosion about
Oboneheads remarks is purely and
without a doubt politically moti-
vated. If he weren't running for
el Presidente his comments would not have envoked so much as a whisper of a comment. Having said that I applaud those who have decided to gang tackel this big eard racist and put him out of the game. He, and or hillary are all wrong for what this country stands for. I can not understand why we have not other choises for people to vote for for this higest of offices. Isn't it sad how without money and a big powerful machine behind you that you have no chance of being seen or heard? Like a previous blogger said "I would have a better chance of picking someone at random out of the phone book that would be a better choice for president that what the parties have dished up for us." (I paraphrase)
What has happened to common sense and decent morals? Aparently they no longer matter for the highest office in the land. To have the democrats dish up this plate of leftest trash and pawn it off as what we need is most insulting. Call me old fashioned but, never call me one to accept this trash.

Hillary can only laugh (cackle) when asked questions regarding her husband, former President Bill Clinton taking $800,000 from Columbia on a trade deal she claims she doesn't support but she has plenty to say about Obama, telling the truth?
Wake up America!!!!!!

"Obama pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'm surprised he figured out that many PA folks are gun-happy, religious zealots and anti-social in his short visits." -Deb . . . . .The question is, what are we figuring out about *him*? Pretty much that his "progressive" prejudices are so deeply ingrained that even a slick snake-oil salesman like Obama can't keep from tipping his hand -- showing his true colors -- now and again. Just like "Deb" showed hers.

RE: Abhinav's comment
In all fairness I think people that believe in the Christain faith do so whether they have a job or not. Nor have I heard of too many taking guns on job interviews to get a job. Not sure what Obama meant by including guns but he is for banishing hand guns so guess it is a little way that his true thinking slips through. (no, don't have a gun but will defend that amendment as much as the one that gives us free speech) I guess worse come to worse and BHO gets elected, I will cling to Jesus to help us.

THIS IS VERY DISTURBING COMING FROM A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. OUR FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND OUR RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS WILL BE IN JEOPARDY BY THIS MAN. FOR SOMEONE TO SAY THAT WE CLING TO THOSE THINGS IN TIMES OF BITTER RETREAT IS APPAULING AND SHOWS JUST HOW ARROGANT AND OUT OF TOUCH THIS MAN IS WITH AMERICANS. IN ESSENCE HIS IDEA IS TO HAVE GOVERNMENT REPLACE THESE WEAK THINGS THAT WE MAY CLING TO IN TIMES OF TURMOIL WHEN THEY ARE WHAT OUR ANCESTORS CLINGED TO IN BUILDING THIS COUNTRY ! OBAMA WANTS TO BE BIG BROTHER NOT YOUR PRESIDENT ! MARK THESE WORDS !

ohhh...Democrats (Billarys will do and say anything to get elected) are destroying each other. Senator is being honest about why people are angry and feeling bitter..No jobs for them when Clintons made $$105 millions for 6 years while these white male workers made nothing. Let's face the truth....

I would like to know what this business is of hearing a moveon.org commercial playing while I am reading these comments?
Trying to get me to think that John McCain is full of **** for thinking it is best for out national security to have troops in Iraq for as long as it takes. I say "what in the hell is wrong with that?" Nobody wants to see our soldiers get killed or seriously injured but, if we do like the gutless dem's want we will be fighting the terrorists in our own streets. Is that what they want? I am beginnig to wonder. These soldiers are volunteers and knew what they were getting into when they enlisted. I served my country during the Vieta Nam era and did so voluntarily. That's what war is all about. Destroying the enemy and killing them before they kill you. There are no soft fuzzy stories where you can talk these crazed killers into saying
"ok, we quit". All they understand is force, and lots of it. For the love of God and this country don't believe the BS being
foisted on us voters by the head-
in-the-sand dems. They are nothing but LIBERAL, SOCIALIST
IC, POWER MONGERS that will sell this country down the river for the right price. McCain's not everything I want in a leader but,
like last election, what choice do you have? I'll take McCain.

Osamobama is clearly a threat to all Americans citizens personal safety. He attends a church where the "pastor" preaches hate and foments racial division. He is elitist, and claims he has strong belief in civil rights, yet he denigrates the Second Amendment. He wants to disarm the most law abiding segment of American society which is those that possess a Concealed Weapon License, claiming that will make us safer. He will take away our right to self defense, the greatest of all human rights and civil liberties. He supports gun free zones where all mass murders have occured; whereby criminals, by defination, never obey the law. And of course, he is the choice of all convicted felons, terrorists, and fundamentalist *******s for President.
Wonder why??

Hey " Hillary "Pinocchio" Clinton"...you lie.. 2 of 3 times, you forgot your "trip to Bosnia"...."white Waters"..."your story of a mother and child diying" becuase hospital did give care...look at yourself before you open your mouth

I'm from a small town in Pa. and I'm not bitter. More important I'm not stupid. Obama can try to explain his way out of his comments but they were pretty clear and don't need revisions. I understand. I will make sure every person I know, knows the original comments. Since the Senator is a very smart man I think I should not make a liar out of him by doing something stupid, like voting for him. Clearly he knows us better then we know ourselves so go with it.

Hillary takes a shot and she has the only shot now for the Democrats in November. She really identifies with and cares about what happens to the ones of "US" left who are barely surviving here in the middle and lower class. She, of course, is rich but, she can still identify with we the "working class Americans. Obama, clearly cannot. Hillary will win in November against McCain or more of the same McBushIII. Obama cannot win, particularly now. Sure looks like to me that Obama is showing himself for the far left latte drinker that he has been since the start. Remember, divide and conquer in Europe by taking advantage of the youth and minority races? Starting to rack them up and the republicans will have a field day in November i.e. monster, NAFTAgate, his real plans for his Irag withdrawal revealed, small town slam and oh yeah, Wright!!!! Obama?s latest truly revealing small small town slam calling ?US? bitter, etc., finally shows him for the elitist rat that he has been from the start and has managed to hide thus far. Wake up America! He doesn't care a thing about promoting anybody but himself. We need Hillary Clinton. We can still save the nominating process and the Democratic Party, if we do the right thing in the primaries left to come. Let's not let the rest of America down. Decisive wins for Hillary in all remaining primaries will put Obama back in his rightful place- a rookie senator. We can still do this and I know the rest of "US" is counting on us. One last thing, where are the ranting raves by the MSM on this issue and why aren't they running this over and over and over again? He will lose the nomination because he is finally identified as the inferior candidate. We have to beat McCain in the fall Americans. Vote Hillary for a victory for the Democrats in November, otherwise we're doomed.